


The Adventures of PowerGuy and Black Bat

by Mythril (fantacination)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Humor, I may mix and match DC/Marvel, Identity Porn, Keith is Black Bat, M/M, Secret Identity, Shiro is Powergirl--er Guy., The Superhero AU nobody asked for, a little campy but it IS a superhero AU, ensemble cast to follow, im just. gonna leave this here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-12 14:03:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10492482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fantacination/pseuds/Mythril
Summary: Wherein Shiro is a freshly-transferred volunteer student tutor, assigned to one Keith Kogane, working student. Keith can't seem to stay awake in class. Shiro is happy to help him after school. They hit it off almost immediately, kindling a budding, tender romance.What they don't know is that Shiro is Powerguy, he of the boob-window and Lawful Good. And Keith is Black Bat, snarky loner who really just wants the new guy to take a hike. This town isn't big enough for them both--except when it is.Chapters are interrelated but not necessarily chronological.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone knows for every Bat there's a Super. Too bad Keith didn't want one.

Throwing a batarang over his shoulder, Keith flipped and landed roughly on the head of a two-bit thug with a backwards baseball cap.

“Argh!” Baseball Cap raged eloquently, lowing like a mad bull. He grabbed at Keith’s tattered, black and gold cape, getting a shock for his trouble.

“Really? Like nobody’s tried _that_ before,” Keith scoffed, ripping the cape out of the man’s hand. He snapped a knee up into the man’s solar plexus, kicking him back with reinforced boots. “You can tell your friends that their shipment’s been cancelled. And to stop selling drugs in the Black Bat’s neighborhood.”

The man cursed and groped for his weapon, unwilling to quit. “You should know. We don’t like guns,” Keith told him, and brought his heavy, steel-heeled boots on the man’s arm, kicking the gun he dropped away.

He tried his very best loom as he stepped over the thug. It was difficult, trying to be intimidating when you were short. But he was hardly the first vertically-challenged Bat and he wouldn’t be the last.

“If I see you causing trouble again I’ll break your _teeth_ , next. That’ll make you real popular in prison.”

“Lil’ bitch!” the man hissed in pain and spat at him. Disgusting, but not any more so than the blood all over his bracers. Keith jabbed at the bundle of nerves at the man’s nape, watching his eyes roll back, unconscious.

With the guards taken out, it was time to look over the contraband. Keith eyed the crates of smuggled weapons, fresh off a nondescript truck. There weren’t any markings to indicate where they might’ve come from. Keith tsked softly and stabbed a batarang through the top- a warning to anyone who thought they might get a quick buck. It was evidence and it would need to be disposed of.

That done, Keith triggered the police alert button on his wristlet and took his grapple gun out, ready to make a quick escape.

Only, of course, there was never just _one_ thug when there could be _ten_ thugs. He should’ve checked the perimeter better. Rookie mistake.

“Hey, boys, looks like someone’s little kitty got lost.” Rough, hard-faced men carrying assault rifles had snuck up behind him, forming a loose, aggressive ring of hulking muscle. This was definitely looking more like a new group instead of a couple of opportunistic tourists.

Keith scowled. “First, it’s Bat. Black Bat.” He steadied his stance. “And second--”

His words cut off suddenly, choking off as the air was pressed out of his lungs. The wind _rushed_ past him, faster than-- faster than a speeding bullet. Someone had him by the waist and gravity dragged at Keith’s heels as he was flown into the sky.

Keith clawed at the solid mass of heat smushed against his face indignantly. “The fuck are you _doing_ ?” His fingers, predictably, did nothing but dig into some thick, heavy cloth. A _red_ cape. Of course.

He wrenched his head away and found himself staring at a pair of impressively framed, tanned pectorals and a simple, thin white spandex suit.

He squinted in confusion at the Window. The chest was firm, powerfully-muscled, as their kind often were, the supple pecs sloping gently from sharp collarbones. Not that it wasn’t nice, but he wasn’t used to seeing _this_ particular legacy suit without a slightly more bountiful bosom. This guy was doing a good job, though. Points for effort.

“Rescuing you?” the meta said. Because of _course_ it was a meta busybody- B had warned him about these types butting into Bat business a lot. Especially Supers. But it had been a while since he’d met one. Not since the disaster that was trying to enter the Teen Titans.

“A little thanks would be nice,” the alien said reproachfully, after a pause.

Keith looked up. The guy was a Super through and through. Maybe not a House of El or anything, but the clean, square jaw and classic, if exotic, good looks might as well be a stamp from the FDA: Genuine Kryptonian Beef. He even had the same, unnaturally bright blue eyes. Keith averted his gaze- he’d always found the aliens’ eyes unsettling.

“Why should I thank someone keeping me from doing my job?”

“Your job?” the guy said incredulously. “I’m sorry, is getting beaten up by a gang your job?”

Keith kicked him-- not that it did any good. “Are you blind or just stupid? Can’t you _see_ the big yellow bat on my chest? The mask and ears? The cape? Do I _look_ like a civilian to you?”

The Super flew him down to a rooftop, allowing Keith to drop lightly onto it. Keith peered immediately down at the alley he’d been forcibly removed from. Thankfully, the police alert had worked and the thugs were now surrounded. That was probably why Big and Chesty had chosen to stay up here instead of bagging the criminals down there.

“They got here really quickly...” the alien said cautiously.

“They better, we installed the alert in their system for a reason.”

“You-- you called the police?”

“Of course I did. Not all of us make primetime news and get keys from the mayor. How fresh off the ship _are_ you?” Keith shook his head. “ _Who_ are you, anyway? Powerboy?”

“Power _guy_ ,” the Super said, a bit stiffly. Keith smirked- he might not be _Robin_ , but nobody said Black Bat couldn’t get under people’s skin, too.

Powerguy folded his arms- incidentally making his chest fuller. Keith wondered, idly, if that was intentional. “And you're one to talk.  Isn’t Black Bat a female legacy?”

“Yeah, but she never had a boob window,” Keith said blithely. “Nice to see you keeping the tradition alive.”

Powerguy-- actually flushed. Wow. He must be really new. People were going to eat him up. Alive, probably.

“See you later, cleavage man!” he said in a mocking chirp, firing his grappling hook into an adjacent rooftop.

Then, his voice dropped, turning hard, edged with a trademarked growl that belonged in dark alleys.

“And next time I want your ‘help’ in my city, I’ll _ask_ for it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was just doodling, then this happened. This could technically have a plot, but I'm trying not to do that to myself and save this for short, stress-free, funny/fluffy things. And maybe some smut at some point. 
> 
> They're supposed to be legacies- the mainstream comics' existing heroes are their mentors who passed the costume/superhero name on to them. :') 
> 
> Some reading if you're curious:  
> https://comicvine.gamespot.com/cassandra-cain/4005-65230  
> https://comicvine.gamespot.com/power-girl/4005-4915


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Keith and Shiro meet. It goes a lot better than the last time they did.

Thanks to ‘Powerguy’, Keith didn’t get much more done that night, getting into his apartment at an appallingly respectable 3 AM. R and the rest of the family had gone quiet, probably still taking down the latest Arkham escapee. If they needed him, they’d call. 

Keith sighed and stretched his arms back overhead with a soft sigh, dropping the cloak and mask onto a couch for later. He reached behind to unhook his suit and pull the zip down, letting his skin breathe a little. His teeth bit at the tape that bandaged his bracers, snapping the end out so he could unwind them. Tugging the seamless, clawed black gloves off his hands, Keith toed off the boots. The rest was a single form-fitting, leathery-kevlar piece he could skim off in a few quick tugs. 

Idly, he wondered if Powerguy had that much trouble with his suit. He hadn’t seen any seams on his outfit, either, and it  _ was _ very thin and even tighter than Keith’s own. It was really a shame he was clearly the same kind of meta douchebag the Titans had been, or he might’ve stayed a bit longer to admire it. 

As it was, he hoped he’d made it abundantly clear that he needed to find another city- far away from Keith, if at all possible. 

Mostly naked, he fell into bed with a tired grunt and decided he’d ask B for some Kryptonite- after some sleep. Just in case. 

The early night did have some benefits. He was only around twenty minutes late to his first class, a shocking record. 

Keith slipped quietly into the room and dumped his things under the long bench. He made a mental note to ask RR to hack into the system for him to change his schedule around. 

Unfortunately, being trained to stalk silently didn’t protect him from getting called out in class-- or being asked to stay behind. 

“I’m worried for you, Keith,” Professor Olkari said, stacking files on her desk. “I know it’s hard being a working student but you need to be able to keep up with your studies. As it is, your coursework has been… shall we say, lacklustre.”

Keith looked down a bit. “I understand, I’ll work harder.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t expect anything less, but there’s no need for you to do so alone. Do you know about Tutor Buds? It’s a volunteer student tutor program I sponsor. If you need the help, I can ask them to arrange for a Buddy to help you.” 

Keith shrugged. “If you think it’ll help…” 

“I think so. And a friend might be good for you. You can’t keep doing all those solo projects, you know.” 

“If you say so, professor,” Keith said neutrally. ‘Friend’. Not likely. But it wasn’t like he had anything to lose. Maybe if he got this tutor he’d at least have someone to tell him what homework he was missing. 

“Excellent, I’ll let you know who’s available. It might take a while, with midterms coming up, but we’re hoping to get some new recruits soon.” 

Keith nodded along and didn’t think much more of it. He had other things to think about. Like how to run a meta out of town. B seemed to think showing them their general incompetence was enough, but he had the distinct feeling he’d need a plan with a little more oomph.

It wasn’t the first time his civilian life had to take a backseat to his caped crusades. But he’d been born and bred in Gotham. No Gothamite had a normal life. He’d taken the Mission because he could live being hunted or he could learn how to hunt. 

But this wasn’t Gotham, anymore. Pollux City was its own kind of interesting, but it was the manageable kind. It wasn’t big enough to attract a lot of heroes, and it was  _ just  _ bad enough to keep a lone vigilante busy without throwing a couple of zombie apocalypses or a gang war every Tuesday. 

He’d put all thoughts of his tutor out of his mind, figuring it’d sort itself out.

That was then. 

“You’re Keith? I’m Shiro,” the guy said. He was big, but his shoulders hunched. He was dressed in an oversized flannel shirt and loose cargo pants like he’d rolled in on tractor. Big, thick glasses were perched on his straight nose. 

For a moment, Keith could only stare. That  _ jaw _ , the fashion sense, and the goddamned glasses-- it couldn’t be? Did Powerguy really have the goddamned balls to show up in public with nothing but a pair of glasses to hide his  _ identity _ ? 

Keith looked closer, picking up details like clues. Shiro’s eyes were dark and when the man moved, it became immediately obvious that he had a prosthesis. A gleaming metal arm with well-articulated fingers that loosely held a knapsack. A Super was invulnerable. That was their entire selling point: skin that no bullet, blade, or poison could pierce. He wouldn’t have a prosthetic arm. Now that he looked at the guy again, he looked a little flabby, too- soft around the middle. He looked like a cuddly felt teddy bear instead of well-tooled alien machine. He was overthinking this. Powerguy probably wasn’t even  _ in _ undergrad. Wasn’t he kind of old? Older, anyway. 

Keith relaxed, shoulders untensing minutely. 

Besides, he would’ve been told if a Super went to his school. Oracle would’ve known. He’d have gotten ten contingency plans from the family- and maybe an extra box of Kryptonite with a cheerful note. 

“You…  _ are _ Keith, right? Are you okay?” Shiro said, concerned. He set his bag down on the library table and reached out to touch Keith’s forehead. 

“No-- I mean, yeah, I’m fine, sorry, just a little tired,” Keith stammered, reeling back from the touch. Who got so touchy when they just  _ met _ someone?

“I heard, you’re a working student right? Late night shifts?” Shiro said sympathetically. 

“Yeah, I don’t have a lot of time to study,” Keith said, which was true, even if the assumption of his job was not. 

“Well, I can help you with that, at least. Are you having trouble with anything in particular?”

“How about everything in particular?” Keith said drily. He did better in less paper-heavy classes, but he wasn’t going to kid himself. He was a D or two away from getting chopped from many of his classes.

Shiro chuckled. He had a nice smile, Keith thought. His eyes crinkled up a bit and he had dimples. That was… that was  _ cute _ . Especially impressive for someone who looked like he was six feet and change. 

“We’ve got time. We can work on them bit by bit,” Shiro soothed, automatically taking out a chair for him. “Ah. Sorry, just-- habit,” he said awkwardly as Keith stared at the chair. 

Snorting, Keith shook his head. “I’m from Gotham, we don’t learn manners up there.” He took the chair and sat. "So tell me about what you’re good at.“

Shiro pinked a bit, which didn’t make sense to Keith until he replayed the conversation in his head. Oh. 

“Anything you want,” Shiro said gamely, flashing that killer smile again. 

Maybe this Buddy thing was gonna go just fine, for once. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not often that Keith calls home. Naturally, Pidge has to investigate.

“So, why  _ did _ you want a kryptonite sampler sent out all the way to Pollux?” Pidge asked through the comm in Keith’s ear. He could hear her tapping at keys- probably hacking into something. 

“I got a meta problem. K-style,” Keith said impatiently as he tied a mugger to a lamppost and handed the woman back her purse with a stiff nod. The woman seemed just as afraid of him as her assailant, but well, he never claimed to be a people person, so he left. 

“Uh-huh, wait a sec---” More tapping. She’d probably opened a new window.  “Oh, Powerguy, huh? Wow, and I thought Karen was stacked.” 

“Not the point.” 

“Please, your gay little leather-clad ass has to appreciate the outfit.” This was true, but Keith would prefer not to acknowledge the fact, especially in-uniform. Business was business. Black Bat was about delivering pain and Justice.

“Or is that what’s got your panties twisted up?” 

Keith frowned. “Robin…” he said warningly. “I just want him out of my city. You know when one meta pops up more trouble follows. Stuff we can’t deal with quietly.” 

“Little late for that, he’s gotten loads of attention already. Check out the forums.” 

“What do you mean?” Keith asked, wondering if he’d regret it. 

“The good citizens of Pollux own zoom-in camera lens and are doing God’s work, that’s what,” Pidge laughed and sent something to Keith’s phone. 

Keith hooked himself to a stable-ish outcrop and looked. “Oh.” 

“There’s fanart.” 

“No. Stop sending me porn, Pidge.” 

“It could be useful! You never know, you might need a reference!” 

“Stop looking at porn while you’re hacking.” 

“I multitask.” 

Keith sighed very loudly. 

“Fine, fine, so your boy is new, anyway, and we don’t have a lot in the database yet, just that Powerguy’s shown up in Metropolis and New York and some other major cities in the world- it’s kinda hard to triangulate a guy who can travel the globe in seconds. He might not even be American and was just stopping by. Some people have seen him around Japan when there was that tsunami late last year.” 

“So.. possibly a one-time fly by?” 

“Possibly,” Pidge confirmed. “He only started showing up pretty recently, too, not much on the database. Hasn’t been invited to any of the big leagues.” 

“Well that’s something,” Keith muttered. “I thought they’d jump all over a new Super.” 

“Do you really need more than one?” Pidge asked rhetorically.

“Point.” Keith let out a little snort and resumed his patrol. At least, he was going to, when he noticed something bright white in the distance. He groaned. “Not a one-time thing.” 

“Is he there?” Pidge asked, entirely too curious. 

“No, not right here, but he’s still around. Send me the rocks, would you?” 

“Sure thing, BB.” 

=

In hindsight, he should probably have just applied directly for his anti-Kryptonian care package, Keith thought as he fished packets of extra-large magnum condoms from the box. 

“Hilarious, Pidge,” he said, knowing that there was probably a bug planted in there somewhere to gauge his reaction. 

Pidge had also thoughtfully included what looked like a very well-polished manip of Powerguy on some pornstar’s body, posing for the camera.

He tossed the photo away and unearthed the stuff he  _ did _ actually request- a set of small chunks of krpytonite carved into rings. No telling which ones would work, but the green was probably a safe bet if it came down to it. Each ring was set into black velvet in a sleek cigarbox case. 

Keith tried one on. It was a little large- he had to fit it on his thumb, but that was without his gloves. The added layers would make it fit just right. 

  
Now all he had to do was make sure Powerguy got the message next time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who can resist Robin!Pidge. It's like Carrie Kelley but Pidge.
> 
> Just so you guys know, yes, this is totally unbetaed, off-the-cuff stuff for fun and not particularly chronological.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think. :') Also [@Tumblr](https://pepperpaprika.tumblr.com/).


End file.
